Aswathy B. Surendran

Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi, India

My life had turned into a play,

the day we met.

I was a performer,

Surreptitiously breaking loose from reality.

With reckless words and polished dialogues,

But the audience didn’t matter at all.

Wretched like a prisoner,

Wrecked like a ship,

Shapeless like water.

I yearned for something distant,

To make it somehow,

Though withering, awaiting a fall.

Tempted by the rush

But only stillness surrounds,

So I slow-dance with time,

Bracing for a storm that won’t show up.

Silence abounds,

with eerie meanings.

Is it a caress of possibility?

A ride to the unknown?

A preparation for the storm?

An aftermath of ravages of desolation?

Or a collection of drab moments?

Is it a wait or an end to behold?

They say love can’t be earned.

Yet we starve, search and suffer.

Shattering into pieces to relearn that

Most don’t get love for free.

My words aren’t enough to fill this space,

Don’t want to know if there’s an end

Now, only memories allow moments to lend.

And that time has stalled with a hope to resume,

While I’m here, waiting on an empty stage.